“Shit…!!!”
“Watch out!”
Yuzuru staggered badly, but thanks to Arisa’s quick reflexes, he managed to avoid meeting the ground.
However…
“Are you alright?”
“Y-Yeah… thanks.”
(J-just now… something soft hit my face…)
As she helped him to his feet, Yuzuru found his thoughts drifting to the “soft cushion” of Arisa’s that had caught his face.
Fortunately, Arisa either hadn’t noticed—or didn’t care.
(She smelled lovely… and it was soft. In more ways than one.)
Leaning on the crutches Arisa handed back to him, Yuzuru thought about it again.
(In a way… wasn’t that a bit of a lucky break?)
But…
“I appreciate the thought, but I’ll be fine. I can’t trouble you.”
Being protected by a girl was lame.
That utterly trivial sense of pride kicked in for Yuzuru right there.
More importantly… people at school would definitely start talking.
If it became known that Yuzuru and Arisa were close, some students might start speculating—and eventually reach the conclusion that the two of them were actually engaged through an arranged marriage.
There were quite a few students at that school from families close to the Takasegawa family.
You couldn’t put a lid on people’s mouths.
In no time, they’d become the centre of attention at school.
“That’s quite a thing to say from someone who almost just fell over.”
“Grr…”
He couldn’t deny that.
Just yesterday, he’d struggled plenty even inside his own room.
“I simply don’t like leaving debts unpaid. Please allow me to return the favour.”
“But still… if people see us together…”
“Please don’t worry, Takasegawa-san. I also dislike strange rumours and gossip. I understand. On the way to school… I’ll only help you until we leave the flat block. No other students should see us then, right?”
“Well… yeah, that’s true. In that case, I’ll take you up on that.”
Figuring she would follow him anyway even if he refused, Yuzuru decided to accept her help.
In truth, even pressing the lift button was a bit of a hassle, so having help until he left the building was genuinely appreciated.
“Then I’ll head on ahead. …You’ll be fine, correct?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
If anything, he wanted her to go ahead as quickly as possible.
It was only about a ten-minute walk from Yuzuru’s flat to school.
At any moment, another student might pass by.
“Before that, shall we exchange contact information?”
“Come to think of it, we haven’t done that yet, have we?”
Yuzuru nodded. That did make sense.
But with both hands occupied by crutches, Arisa ended up taking his phone out of his backpack and handling everything.
“All set. Well then, do give me a call when you’re on your way home.”
“Alright, I will.”
With an expression as unreadable as ever, Arisa gave a small bow and headed towards school at a light jog.
After that, Yuzuru slowly made his own careful way there, tapping his crutches along the path.
Yuzuru arriving at school with crutches surprised people around him…
But when he explained it was just a badly sprained ankle, most of his classmates seemed satisfied and didn’t press further.
Lunch break.
Yuzuru sat in his classroom with two friends, desks pushed together.
“Here. The bread you asked for.”
“Oh—thanks.”
Soichiro, one of Yuzuru’s friends, tossed the bread he’d won from the crowded school shop towards Yuzuru, who had been waiting in his seat.
Another friend dropped a bottle of tea onto Yuzuru’s desk with little ceremony.
Then he plopped down into a chair rather roughly.
“So… mate. What’s up with that injury?”
The one who asked was one of Yuzuru’s troublemaking friends, Hijiri Ryozenji.
He had a somewhat flashy vibe to him.
Like Yuzuru and Soichiro, he wore his uniform a bit loosely—but on top of that, he also had a black necklace hanging around his neck.
For the record, the dress code at this high school was basically: “Dress and style your hair appropriately for a high school student.”
(In simpler terms: as long as you follow basic common sense, we don’t care how you’re dressed.)
“I skipped the school canteen because of your injury and went out to buy you some bread. I think that warrants an answer.”
Soichiro had also taken a seat and was staring at Yuzuru expectantly.
Yuzuru, Soichiro, and Hijiri.
The three of them got along fairly well and usually hung out together.
…Though, in truth, all three of them were actually in different classes.
Normally they ate at the cafeteria, but today they chose to eat in Yuzuru’s classroom out of consideration for his injury.
“Well… there was a cat up in a tree… call it a wound of honour.”
The moment Yuzuru said that—
Soichiro burst out laughing.
Then Hijiri pointed straight at him and roared with laughter.
“So this is what they mean by ‘the hunter becoming the hunted’.”
“That’s just plain daft!”
“Shush… the cat went berserk.”
“…Man, it must have really hated being rescued by you.”
“Are you taking the piss!? You got knocked off by a cat?!”
Soichiro and Hijiri laughed their heads off.
Yuzuru snorted and folded his arms.
“Oi, calm down. Sorry… pfft.”
“It was just too funny… heh.”
“Mate, you’re actually hopeless.”
For a brief moment, the saying birds of a feather flock together crossed Yuzuru’s mind—
but he crumpled the thought up and tossed it out the window.
The two kept laughing for a while… but eventually, perhaps bored, they switched topics.
“Oh yeah, Yuzuru. What happened with that arranged marriage?”
“Oh right! Didn’t you order a blonde, blue-eyed, fair-skinned, big-boobed beauty? Did the custom order arrive?”
“Oi! Don’t say that so loud…”
Arisa was in this very classroom, eating with her classmates.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin—fine.
But he’d really rather she didn’t hear the “big-boobed beauty” part.
“To sum it up, she didn’t come. …Like that kind of girl would ever show up.”
“That’s boring.”
“Man, at least lie and say she did.”
To them, Yuzuru’s marriage talk was just joke material—someone else’s business entirely.
…Which was honestly fine with Yuzuru. It would be worse if they took it seriously.
(There’s no way I can tell them I’m ‘engaged’—even if it’s just a sham—to Yukishiro Arisa.)
He trusted them to keep secrets, but…
They would absolutely tease him to death.
“More importantly, Soichiro. What’s going on with Ayaka-chan and Chiharu-chan?”
“Yeah! You scum of the earth—quit two-timing and pick one already!”
“Oi, don’t change the subject!”
By forcibly changing the subject, Yuzuru managed to avoid further interrogation.
After school.
Yuzuru had his two friends help him down the stairs, then headed alone towards his flat.
Arisa was waiting in front of the building.
“I’ll carry your bag.”
“Thanks.”
He gratefully accepted her kindness and let her escort him to his door.
Even with the lift, having someone assist him made things easier.
More than that, simply having someone nearby brought a strange sense of reassurance.
“Well then, Yukishiro. I’ll see you—”
“I’ll help you until you take off your shoes. That must be difficult, right?”
“The key’s in the pocket of my bag.”
Since they’d already come this far, Yuzuru decided to accept her help all the way and handed over the key.
Arisa opened the door with her usual calm expression.
…And then froze.
Her eyes widened as she stood there completely still.
“What’s wrong, Yukishiro?”
“What on earth is the state of this room? …Look, there’s not even a place to step properly!”
Arisa frowned at the sight of rubbish, random clutter, and scattered handouts covering the floor.
Yuzuru wasn’t exactly great at cleaning or organising.
“Well, I mean… I do have my own system. I know where everything is—”
“Whether you actually do or not aside, Takasegawa-san. Someone who can’t walk without crutches living in a room full of obstacles like this is extremely dangerous.”
Even as she said that, Arisa helped him take off his shoes.
Thanks to her, he was able to step inside without difficulty.
“’Scuse me, Takasegawa-san.”
“Hm?”
“The tip of that crutch is dirty. At the very least, you should wipe it before bringing it inside…”
As she spoke, Arisa took wet wipes out of her bag.
She carefully cleaned the tip of his crutch.
Then she sighed.
“You’re quite a handful.”
“Sorry… but it doesn’t bother me.”
“It should bother you! …I’ll be going now, but will you really be alright?”
Her gaze shifted repeatedly between the disastrous state of the room and Yuzuru’s crutches.
She looked genuinely worried.
As if she couldn’t quite bring herself to leave.
To reassure her, Yuzuru moved around the room, trying to show that it wasn’t a problem.
“I’m fine. This is my room, you know? I know the layout well enough—”
Slip.
The crutch landed on a loose sheet of paper and slid across the floor.
Yuzuru’s body tilted sharply.
“…Just as you say that.”
“S-Sorry. I seriously owe you one.”
Fortunately, Arisa had been standing close enough to catch him before he fell.
That was a real scare.
Yuzuru could feel cold sweat pouring out of him.
“Honestly… I can’t just leave things like this. …I’m cleaning this room. Understood?”
There was something in Arisa’s tone that made it impossible to refuse.
Having a girl from his class clean his room was embarrassingly pathetic, and he’d much rather avoid it—
but he couldn’t exactly deny the fact that he’d just almost fallen.
“Y-Yes.”
Yuzuru had no choice but to nod obediently.
